Children benefits from nature learning and outdoor playing, which includes playing in the playground. But many children are treated in hospital emergency rooms for playground-related injuries, so you should note playground safety.
Safety always comes first, whether indoors or outdoors, especially when playing where children get injured easily. Playground safety is critical in student care. Most playground-related injuries occur on equipment located at schools and student care.
To minimize the risk of the children getting injured in the playground and provide a safer and more satisfying play experience for the children, you should take note of playground safety. Many playground-related injuries can be prevented, but how do you ensure the safety of the children? Here are some tips to note where you can create a safer environment for the children to play.
Why Is Playground Safety Important?
Who doesn’t get excited playing at a playground? But let us understand what playground safety is. It is your student care or childcare’s plan to ensure that the children’s playground or play area is safe. Playground safety includes policies to reduce the risk of injury. Besides that, you need to ensure the condition of the playground is adequate.
Technologies are getting advanced, and there is a huge decrease in children playing outdoors, unlike the older generation who used to play outdoors. There are many other reasons besides children focusing more on technology devices. The safety concern is also one major factor that decreases children playing outdoors.
But student care with a playground can help increase the number of time children spending their time playing outdoors. It can help bridge the learning gap that may result from spending less time outdoors.
The Developmental Impact Of Safe Outdoor Play
Studies show that allowing children to play can help to improve behavior and improve attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) management. Besides that, it can increase social, cognitive, and creative development.
When you allow children to play in the playground, they are forced to communicate and solve the problem within themselves. They will create games with their own rules and hold each other accountable to follow the rules.
Some of the developmental impacts can have on children include encouraging the development of important coping skills, getting a chance to engage with nature, and allowing them to recognize many objects and shapes.
Playground Safety #1 – Proper Installation Keeps School Playgrounds Safe
Your playground equipment installation must be installed properly. It is the basic factor that keeps your student care playground safe. Certified professionals should handle site preparation and playground equipment installation.
A few conditions must be met to ensure a safe installation in your playground. The conditions include the manufacturer providing detailed instructions on how the equipment is installed. They should provide a manual for the specific equipment that you purchase.
Besides that, make sure your plan is well-organized, the professional you hire should have the necessary tools, and you should have a schedule to execute the installation. Also, ensure that your playground is well-supervised by a manufacturer-certified installer.
Playground Safety #2 – Inspections And Maintenance Are The Key
Your student care may be well-design for the children to enjoy, but even the best-designed playgrounds may have hazards if the equipment isn’t installed correctly, damaged by vandals, broken, weakened by the ravages of time, or physically worn out. It would be best if you had a safety audit and regularly inspect your playground to ensure its safety.
Safety audits: Focus on compliance with the standard of care. It should be performed by a staff or a consultant that you hire who has completed the National Playground Safety Institute’s Certified Playground Safety Inspector (CPSI) training.
Maintenance inspections: They should be conducted regularly and focus on immediate hazards caused by the damaged or aging equipment. You will want to do a maintenance checklist on how you want to maintain your playground equipment. It would be best if you decided the equipment should be replaced when it reached a certain damage.
Playground Safety #3 – Strike a Balance Between Safety and Challenge in Playground Design
Children learn and grow through exploration and social interaction. Playgrounds are one of the places where they can explore easily. You should design it with appropriate challenges to allow them to develop by playing in the playground. The playground challenges should be appropriate for their age and allow them to play in a safe environment.
Today’s play equipment lacks challenging opportunities because of parental concerns and decreased design freedom. A well-designed playground should keep children away from hazards. At the same time, it can encourage them to learn to overcome challenges and test their limits.
Playground Safety #4 – Teaching Children Playground Safety Rules
One important factor in keeping children safe in the playground is to set some rules and let them understand before they hit the playground. They need to be mature enough to follow instructions and choose the appropriate equipment to play with.
Teaching children behaviors can help them make better decisions as they play, making it easier for you to supervise. When they are in the playground, you can try teaching and encouraging behaviors such as good communication, verbal conflict resolution, sharing, taking turns to play, collaborative play, how to handle bullying, etc.
Playground Safety #5 – Avoid Micromanaging Play
In a playground, we are always concerned with playground safety. It is important not to micromanage play, and it can negate the positive effects of outdoor free play.
You will want to find a balance in it, and here are some tips you will find helpful. You want to keep rules consistent on the playground. Practice redirection rather than correcting children. Help children to find their way out of the problem rather than removing them from the situation.
You can also set up new opportunities for exploration on the playground to minimize boredom. You will also want to keep your playground safe and clean to minimize the risk of injuries.
Communication is the key to playground safety. You will want to keep communication open between staff, parents, and children. It can be difficult, but having the right management can easily keep track of important information, such as allergies. It can help you to communicate with their parents.
Speak with The Experts
Planning to get started at your kindergarten but have no idea about it?
Childcare Center Renovation Singapore is a reliable company for renovation and interior design. They have about ten years of experience in this field and have a good reputation among customers.
Call us now to get your desired kindergarten design ideas now!
